Fox and Hounds Daily Says Goodbye
With this article, we end publication of Fox and Hounds Daily. It has been a satisfying 12½ year run. When we opened in May 2008, our site was designed to offer an opportunity to those who wished to engage in public debate on many issues, especially in politics and business, but found it difficult to get placed in newspaper op-ed pages.
Co-publishers Tom Ross, Bryan Merica and I have kept F&H going over this time investing our own time, funding, and staff help. Last year at this time we considered closing the site, however with an election on the horizon we decided to keep F&H going through the election year. With the election come and gone, and with no sense of additional resources, we have decided to close the site down.
Fox and Hounds will live on, at least, with my articles collected in the California State Library.
On a personal note, I have spent over 40 years in California policy and politics. There have been some incredible high moments and some difficult low points. It pains me that politics too often is a blood sport, frequently demonizing the motives of opponents and using the legal system as a weapon in public discourse. At Fox & Hounds, we tried to adhere to the practice of giving all a voice in the debate, yet keep the commentaries civil and avoided personal attacks.
F&H offered the opportunity to publish different perspectives (even ones that criticized my writings!). We had success as indicated by the Washington Post twice citing Fox and Hounds Daily one of the best California political websites and many other positive affirmations and comments received over the years.
Tom, Bryan and I want to thank our many readers and writers for being part of our journey. The publishers of Fox and Hounds Daily believe that we added value to California and its people. We hope you agree.
Raiders of the Carbon Ark
When pitching new programs, politicians love their “dedicated” funds: highway trust funds, housing trust funds, environmental protection funds, wildlife-protection funds, and so on. Under California’s AB 32, California politicians partly sold the state’s cap-and trade program based on how much good could be done with the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds that would be raised through the state’s cap-and-trade program.
But when governments hit the fiscal skids, or a politician has a pet project in need of funds, there’s nothing so undedicated as a dedicated fund. As I wrote back in 2013, even being a politically correct fund is no protection. Last year, Governor Brown infuriated environmentalists by deciding to “borrow” $500 million from California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and “loan” it to the state’s General Fund. Now, he’s decided to loot the Fund for his pet high speed rail program, despite a finding from the state Legislative Analyst’s Office that high speed rail wouldn’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions until after 2020, which is the year that, in theory, California is supposed to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
The Tectonic Plates Shifting Under the California Job Market in 2014
The tectonic plates continue to shift under the California job market in 2014. Full time employment with benefits is replaced by contingent and part time employment, the labor force participation rate continues to fall, the competition for each position increases, the job tenure rate declines.
The latest to weigh in on a number of these labor market changes is our Regional Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Mr. Richard Holden. Mr. Holden is currently making presentations in California on the updated BLS job projections for 2012-2022, and offers thoughts on the changes in the structure of employment, beyond these numbers. (more…)
Welcome Investments for L.A.’s Future
The “grand pour” was the center of attention in downtown Los Angeles this past weekend. The continuous concrete pour of the foundation for the new Wilshire Grand hotel and office tower set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records and attracted thousands of spectators. The 1,100 foot building will be the tallest in Los Angeles and west of the Mississippi when it opens in 2017.
The Wilshire Grand is a $1 billion investment by Korean Air and its Chairman Yang Ho Cho. Chairman Cho announced this investment during the heart of the Great Recession when others were delaying their decisions. As a part of the effort to encourage this investment, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met with Chairman Cho and AC Martin CEO Chris Martin in Seoul in 2010 during a trip organized by the L.A. Area Chamber for the State of California.
I Argue With Myself Over Dan Schnur
Of course, I’m for Dan Schnur for Secretary of State. I’m in the media, and he’s our candidate. We all know him. We’ve relied upon him for a quick quote for years. He’s a super-nice guy, returns phone calls fast, and is thoughtful and plays it straight. How could I not vote him?
I can’t possibly be for Dan Schnur, can I? He’s the favored candidate of our state’s political media, which feeds us polls and old, bogus narratives about the state. Schnur shares some of the media’s shallowness – they both make a lot of noise about low-rent political faux-scandals; they like cheap shots (“Remove that politician because he was registered to vote at a home he owned, not the home where he lived just a few miles outside his district” is the latest). They rail against political money, as if there’s any way to stop such money from flowing under this Supreme Court. And they pooh pooh the idea of making necessary changes to the state’s dysfunctional governing system as unrealistic.
A Dickens’ California
Are we Californians living through a Charles Dickens novel? “It was the best of times it was the worst of times.”
Consider:
A balanced state budget; unfathomable debt obligations.
A winter climate that makes the rest of the country jealous; a catastrophic drought that cripples the agriculture economy.
Boom in the high tech zones; record setting poverty in the state as a whole.
The national media hails the California comeback but barely notes the state’s dark side. California’s reputation as the lodestar for the nation is challenged by cruel reality.
Turning Recovery Into Prosperity: A Policy Agenda
Adapted from CalChamber’s Solutions for a Strong Economy.
Viewed from on high, the California recovery gained momentum in 2013. Per capita personal income has continued to increase, even after adjusting for inflation, for the fourth consecutive year.
For the first time the state’s gross domestic product topped $2 trillion, marking California as the world’s tenth largest economy. All sectors are improving, with manufacturing, information, finance and tourism ahead of the pack.
The statewide unemployment rate has dropped two percentage points in just 15 months while employers have added more than 300,000 jobs.